Vets seek, receive help from Ford Street Project

The Ford Street Project Alcohol and Drug Treatment for Veterans got underway in August with a $130,000 federally-funded contract to support veterans to get clean and sober and usher them into productive, meaningful lives.

Mark Messerer, Ford Street Program Director, oversees the operation. He is a veteran himself?of this kind of work?having been a senior Mendocino County Drug and Alcohol Program therapist for seven years, a Lake County Alcohol and Drug Services treatment coordinator for five years and more than five years in his present position.

He points out the sweat lodge structure where sweats are led three times a month by local tribal elders and the four townhouse units for participants of family dependency drug court.

They house men, women and couples involved with Child Protective Services cases in the process of reunifying with their children working in partnership with Alcohol and Other Drug Programs and the courts.

One participant in the new program, a 52-year-old veteran, has been there for more than 90 days. He was previously living in Eureka, homeless and on probation.

"About a year ago, I was in transitional housing in Eureka through the Veteran's Administration and I lost my wife; I was drinking, ?I couldn't stop?got kicked out and became homeless. I started living at the mission and my probation officer sent me here.?

"Thanks to the counselors here, I have been clean and sober for more than three months. They really care and have a lot of heart. I can't say enough good things about them. They give you a lot of one-on-one attention. I am going through domestic violence and anger management classes and will stay two more months. I want to get off probation next year and look for housing and a job at Walmart doing janitorial work."

After working for a year on assessing the needs and coordinating with the VA, a contract was signed last August to provide residential treatment for homeless vets or those at risk of being homeless.

The emphasis from the federal government is providing more behavioral health care; a great many vets are in need of mental health care and drug and alcohol treatment.

Messerer says, "We had to reach out to the vets community; since there is mistrust about institutions, they needed word of mouth assurance that they would be taken care of treated appropriately.

"Fortunately, at the same time, a group called VetConnect, already established in Sonoma and Lake counties, began to network in Mendocino. This organization put together by vets provides local referral services. We became part of it from its inception here. We connected with Will Van Sant and Clare Friedlander at the VA; they have proven to be an invaluable resource for all of us. They were excited about what we were proposing; the VA has been helpful from the local level to San Francisco."

"Due to overcrowding in urban areas vets have to wait a long time for services. Our availability has created a stir."

One of the seven clients presently in the program is a 69-year-old Vietnam vet.

"I drank all my life. In the last couple of years I ran into a lot of things that caused depression, so I was going to a mental health worker at the VA in Ukiah. She recommended me to this program. I have been here for 5 months, clean and sober. I realize there are people with worse problems than what I have and we are able to communicate with each other. The camaraderie and the groups are most helpful. Everyone speaks his mind; it's safe and confidential. I could not have done this without the constant support of the counselors."

He recently rented an apartment, goes to recovery meetings and, although he is retired, is considering looking for part time work.

The program has typical components: relapse prevention, drug and alcohol education, anger management and process groups.

What they have more specifically for the vets is increased one-on-one counseling and an evidence-based program called Seeking Safety that treats post traumatic stress disorder in a gentle, non judgmental small group environment followed with individual counseling. It helps clients make sense of their feelings related to the trauma.

Messerer says, "We provide case management for them. They go to classes, perform community service and we bring in outside providers to teach life skills. We have 12-step programs in house and after 30 days they can go to escorted meetings in the community. A vet can get referred to transitional housing where there is a job training component and then actually move out into permanent housing and employment. That's continuum care.

"Being part of watching and supporting them move from dereliction into self-sustained, employed, wonderful individuals, able to give back to their community, is a true joy."